The present invention relates as indicated to a retainer clip for a fill slat, and more particularly a clip for retaining a fill slat in position in a cooling tower.
The use of fill slats or splash bars, as they are also commonly known, in cooling towers is common practice. The fill slats are positioned in the tower in vertically and normally laterally staggered positions to provide a meandering path for the water descending in the cooling tower. Water is thus diverted upon contact with a particular fill slat and directed laterally to contact a laterally adjacent, lower fill slat in the cooling tower. Where the fill slats are formed with perforations, the water descends directly through the fill slat to the fill slat positioned below. This continual breaking up of the water into droplets enhances vaporization and thus cooling of the water. Air is adapted to flow through the tower either transversely to the descent of the water (cross-flow type) or the air can travel upwardly in the direction opposite to the descent of the water (counter-flow type).
The fill slats are retained in the cooling tower on grids of mesh comprised of horizontal and vertical support wires spot welded or otherwise secured at the points of intersecting contact. The wire mesh thus defines a series of rectangular openings through which the fill slats extend for support by the horizontally extending wires.
The fill slats are normally made of plastics material of various types and are accordingly relatively light in weight, particularly if the contact surfaces are perforated. In view of the air flow conditions within the cooling tower, there is a tendency toward instability, and the fill slats can turn over as well as moving longitudinally in the air flow direction. Due to these destabilizing factors, it is known to use retaining clips of various sorts to retain the fill slats in their mounted position on the wire grids.
One such retainer is shown in applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,764, in which a holding clip is clamped to a downwardly extending flange of the fill slat so as to prevent both longitudinal and rolling or tilting movement of the fill slat relative to the support wires.
Another commercially known retainer clip comprises upper flanges which extend over the flanges of the fill slats, vertical slots formed in the ends of the retainer clip to receive the vertical wires, and resilient flanges extending downwardly from the body of the retainer clip for frictionally engaging the horizontal supporting wire. Although this clip has worked generally satisfactorily, the vertical grooves at either end of the clip are defined by continuous vertical side walls which extend on both sides of the adjacent vertical wire when the clip is positioned in place. This type of groove-defining wall construction results in the overall length of the retainer clip being greater than the distance between adjacent vertical wires, thereby precluding the placement of clips and thus fill slats in a side by side relationship. In certain situations, it is highly desirable for density purposes to put fill slats in every space, and the clip just described is incapable of accommodating this spacing arrangement.